Obama acknowledges Syria policy helps Assad, says U.S. has to focus on more immediate threats

September 28, 2014 11:05 PM

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WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Sunday gave voice to the conundrum at the heart of his Syria policy, acknowledging that the U.S.-led military campaign against the Islamic State group and al-Qaida's affiliate in Syria is helping Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, a man the United Nations has accused of war crimes.

"I recognize the contradiction in a contradictory land and a contradictory circumstance," Obama said in an interview aired Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes." ''We are not going to stabilize Syria under the rule of Assad," whose government has committed "terrible atrocities," Obama said.